The Third Chosen
by augla39354
Summary: Another chosen is coming to Aselia... But this new chosen is going to have to save Colette and Zelos! Crossover with Tales of the Abyss. May contain spoilers to both games. **STORY IS ON HIATUS!**
1. Chapter 1: Kidnap

Author's Preface: So I guess I'm in the middle of two stories now, huh… No worries. Both are completely planned out on loose-leaf paper, and will all be totally on eventually. This story has nothing to do with my other story. It is totally independent from the other story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 1: Kidnap**

_A prophecy is about to unfold… When the two chosen are caged like birds, a third will come from afar to save them, flying with giant wings formed from the power of eight spirits. Though the chosen will have been a hero before, their efforts are unknown here and the chosen will have to reestablish their exploits…_

There was a girly giggle. A girl with long, blond hair wearing a white priestess dress with blue trim had laughed. "Isn't that great, Zelos?" She said to a man with red hair, a salmon colored vest, white pants, and a white hair band. "There's going to be another chosen!"

"Colette, my little angel…" Zelos said, "Where could this chosen be from? You're from Sylvarant and I'm from Tethe'alla… There's nowhere else for this chosen to come from in Aselia…"

"Who knows?" Colette said. "The new chosen could be from a whole other world, for all we know." She paused for a second and stared at Zelos, who stared back. Colette continued after giggling again. "But what are the chances of that?" Zelos smiled.

"I hope this new chosen is a cute hunny like you, because you've already got Lloyd…" Upon mentioning this name, Colette gasped loudly, cutting Zelos off.

"Oh my goodness!" Colette said, "I almost forgot! I have to go meet Lloyd right now! I'll be seeing you, Zelos!" After saying this, Colette turned around and began to focus. After a few seconds, a pair of pink and purple wings appeared from Colette's back. Colette took one last look at Zelos, and then began to fly away using her wings.

After a few minutes, Colette lighted down in front of a wooden house and was greeted by the howling of a large green and white dog. Colette walked over to the dog and gave it a rub on its head. "Hello, Noishe." She said. Noishe gave a loud whine. Colette giggled.

"Noishe seems happy to see you, Colette…" A voice said from nearby. Colette turned her head to face the owner of the voice. It was a brown haired boy with a red shirt, gloves, and boots, blue pants, and brown overalls and overlapping belts, to which two sword sheaths were attached. He was waving at Colette. Colette put away her wings and ran over to the boy.

"Lloyd!" She said. "Sorry I'm a little late… I have something I need to tell you. There's going to be another chosen!" Lloyd smiled, though it was rather obvious that he was slightly confused. "There's a prophecy that was given foretelling the coming of a new chosen." Colette repeated the prophecy, but the smile on Lloyd's face slid into a frown.

"Colette…" Lloyd said critically. "Do you hear yourself? You and Zelos are going to be 'caged like birds' and this new chosen's coming to save you guys! Doesn't that concern you?" Colette was no longer smiling.

"Oh…" She said quietly. "I guess I didn't catch that when I heard it the first time." Lloyd unsheathed the two swords from his belts.

"Don't worry, Colette…" He said, swinging his swords playfully. "I'll protect you, no matter what! I promise!" Colette smiled.

"Of course you will!" Colette laughed. "You always have and you always will!" Lloyd sheathed his swords. "I trust you will uphold your promise even now?" Lloyd grabbed Colette's hands.

"Colette, of course I always will…" Lloyd smiled and looked up. "Come what may, I'll slay it with my two swords!" Lloyd's hands moved from Colette's hands to his sword hilts.

All of a sudden, a large black cloud rolled over, covering up the once cloudless sky in less than a minute. Both Lloyd and Colette looked up at the cloud. Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning crashed down between them. Lloyd was sent backwards, smacking into a tree. Colette fell backwards, letting out a yelp. Another bolt came down on the tree that Lloyd, who had been knocked out, was under. The tree instantly lit into flames. Colette gasped and got up to try to rescue Lloyd, but some burning branches fell down, creating a barrier of flames that Colette could not get past.

"_Aqua Edge!_" A voice called out. Colette looked for the owner of the voice as three rings of water doused some of the fire surrounding Lloyd. "Get Lloyd!" The voice belonged to Zelos, who lighted down near Colette, showing off his orange and red wings. Colette nodded, then ran over to Lloyd, picked him up (she still had her angel strength), and set him down in a safe location near Noishe.

As soon as Colette had set down Lloyd, she heard an anguished cry come from Zelos. Colette spun around and saw Zelos on the ground, occasionally discharging electricity from his body. She gasped, and then ran over to Zelos. Seconds later, another bolt of lightning fell from the sky, hitting Colette dead on.

"Aah!" Colette yelled. Lloyd finally reawakened just to see Colette get hit by the bold, but being drained of most of his energy, all he could do was sit and watch. Yet another lighting bolt fell from the sky, and a cloaked figure appeared where the bolt hit. This person picked up both Colette and Zelos. Suddenly, the person turned into a lighting bolt and rocketed upward from the ground.

"COLETTTTTE!" Lloyd yelled with the last of his energy. "Colette…" He repeated very quietly, and then fainted from a lack of energy.


	2. Chapter 2: Departure

**Author's Preface: **Mwahaha! You've just got yourself into reading a crossover fan fiction! Yes, this is a crossover with Tales of the Abyss, and you are now about to read a chapter that has nothing to do with Lloyd, Colette, Zelos, or anything related to Tales of Symphonia! I bet some people are going to wonder, "How does this chapter have anything to do with the previous?" Patience, grasshopper, the answers will come. So, until then, please wonder why the heck this chapter got thrown into a Tales of Symphonia story... This chapter contains spoilers in Abyss up to the Tower of Rem. It may also contain some OOC-ness, so beware. This happens after the events of Abyss, therefore Luke has long hair and Short-Haired Luke's attitude (without the emo suicidalness). Please write reviews! I do not own Tales of Symphonia or Tales of the Abyss - Namco does. (Well, actually Bandai-Namco owns Tales of the Abyss...) I'm also sorry if I screwed up the prophecy from Abyss in the first couple sentences...

* * *

_ND 2000: A child will be born as the scion of Lorelei's power. He will have red hair and royal blood, and he will be called the Light of the Sacred Flame..._

"UWAH!!" Luke's head shot up quickly, sending long red hair everywhere. He had been sleeping peacefully, when his head began to throb worse than it had ever hurt before. Even worse than when Asch or Lorelei had used to contact him telepathically - far worse. "Damn!" He said, "Why is it hurting this bad?" He tried to stand up, but fell onto the ground. Luke now put both of his hands on his head and squeezed his eyes shut. A voice began to speak.

"A new prophecy..." Upon hearing the voice, Luke's eyes shot open in shock. "Auldrant is in danger... New battle must be fought... Auldrant is not the battleground, though... Go to the Tower of Rem and use the power of hyperresonance... Go alone... Fail and Auldrant will be destroyed..." After saying this last sentence, the pain subsided. Luke groped for one of his bedposts and used it to help himself onto his feet. Once on his feet, Luke gave a big sigh of relief.

"Odd way to wake up..." He chuckled softly. Now that he was up, Luke decided to get dressed for the day. He walked over to his closet and chose to wear his favorite outfit - a dark gray crop-top and matching pants with yellow pocket flaps, a white coat with a dark-gray demon insignia on the back of it that went over the crop-top, and maroon shoes with black trim. He brushed his hair and decided, for a little change in pace, to pull his hair back into a ponytail. Luke tied back his hair with a yellow hair band, but he left two strands of hair hanging in front of his outfit.

There was a knock at Luke's door. "Luke?" A familiar voice said. "It's me, Tear. Can I come in?" Luke looked at the door.

"Come in, Tear." He said. Tear opened the door. Luke smiled. She looked like she always did - brown dress, long tan hair, and beautiful blue eyes. Tear chuckled.

"What's with the hair band?" She said, walking over to Luke. "You never wear your hair back like that..."

"I wanted a little change in pace..." Luke said. "You know, escape from normalcy?"

"It somewhat reminds me of the day you cut your hair... You know, when you _just_ cut your hair." Luke laughed. Then, a thought struck him. He was going to need to go to the Tower of Rem alone, but how was he going to go without lying to Tear or blowing her off? Maybe if he just came clean...

"Tear..." He said. "I need to go to the Tower of Rem today, but I'm afraid you can't come with me..." Tear looked puzzled.

"Why do you need to go to the Tower of Rem, Luke? Why can't I come?" She wrapped her hands around Luke's arm, but he pulled his arm back from her grasp.

"I'm sorry, Tear, but I just can't tell you... I don't have any answers to give you... My head is probably filled with twice as many questions than yours right now..." Luke walked over to his door and opened it, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him, leaving Tear in his room.

"Luke..." Tear said, even though he wasn't in the room anymore. "I'm worried... Even though you don't want me to, I have to follow you. I don't want you to die..." Tear opened the door and scanned the courtyard outside Luke's room. Luke was nowhere to be found. "Luke? LUKE!!" She yelled with no avail.

Luke had already dashed out of his house and was heading to the lower level of Baticul, taking an elevator. He began to think of how he would be able to get to the Tower of Rem from Baticul. He had about 2,000 Gald on him. He could pay for a ferry ride, but he doubted any ferries could take him to the Tower of Rem. Just then, the elevator came to a halt and Luke stepped off the lift. He looked around for a couple seconds, then took a few steps forward.

"Luke!" A very soft voice called his name. Luke looked upward and behind him to see Tear leaning over a railing on a higher level. The wind was playing with her hair. "Don't go! Please!" Luke barely heard these words. He closed his eyes and beamed politely, then turned around and continued to walk. "Luke fon Fabre! Please don't walk away! LUKE!!" Tear was now yelling as loud as she could, but Luke pretended not to hear. He clenched his left hand into a fist.

"Tear... If only you knew that I'm doing this for you... I have to go, or I'll be the cause of Auldrant's demise..." A small tear began to form in each of his teal-green eyes. When he blinked, these tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry..." He said very quietly.

In the harbor, Luke was lucky to find a small boat that was willing to bring him to the Tower of Rem. Almost twenty minutes later, Luke was staring up at the tall tower. He was began to walk inside. Once inside, he halted and started to think. _I'm here..._ He thought. _I need to use the power of hyperresonance here..._ _Maybe I should go up to the top, first... _Luke stepped onto the giant elevator at the center of the tower and the platform began to ascend.

Less than five minutes later, Luke was at the top of the tower. Once he stepped off the elevator, it began to descend. _Odd..._ Luke thought for a quick second, then turned around. This place brought back many harsh memories of his suicidal days. Luke walked over to the same spot he had stood the day he almost gave his life to eliminate the miasma from Auldrant. Luke closed his eyes and began to focus on using his power of hyperresonance.

"Aim to the sky..." The same voice from earlier sounded from Luke's head, this time without the searing pain. "Open the portal and let it take you to a new battlefield..." Luke looked up, then brought his hands up over his head. Just then, his hands began to glow with the power of hyperresonance. The sky also began to glow above him.

At that moment, Luke faintly heard the sound of the elevator return to the top, followed by, "Luke!" It was Tear.

"Why did you follow me?" Luke said, eyes still focused upward.

"Because I love you, Luke!" Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Tear make a motion as if to walk towards him.

"Stay back, Tear!" He said. "I have to go alone!" Tear brought a hand up to her mouth, rather shocked, then whipped her head about angrily.

"Why?!?" She yelled. "Why do you have to go? Why don't you ever have answers for me anymore?!?" At this moment, the sky above Luke's head had turned completely white. Luke's hands dropped to his sides. He turned to face Tear.

"Tear..." He said. "I'm doing this to save Auldrant... I promise to return..." After saying this, a blinding pillar of light dropped from the sky upon Luke, who yelled "UWAH!" When the light faded, Tear saw that Luke was gone. Tear fell to her knees and began to cry.

"LUUUUUUKE!" She yelled to the sky. "I didn't even get to say 'good-bye' to you..." Tear's head buried into her arms in total devastation.


	3. Chapter 3: Arrival

**Author's Preface: **Now we shall be returning to the wonderful world where most of the rest of this story's events are going to take place – Aselia. It's going to be a few chapters before Auldrant makes an appearance again. This is a few days after the events of chapter 1, but later in the day from chapter 2, just so you know. Therefore, chapter 2 had occurred days after chapter 1… I also found out after putting up for the world to see that I left out the name of the chapter at the beginning of the previous… Oops. Thanks again for rants and reviews, many of which were not posted here, but on the Tales Series Forums. (Love you all!) And now, chapter 3 begins!

**The annoying, yet required disclaimer: **I own nothing… Everything in this chapter is owned by Namco or Bandai-Namco. (Well, except the sea monster… That was a figment of my imagination.)

* * *

**Chapter 3: Arrival**

News just happens to really spread quickly, doesn't it…?

That's what Lloyd thought as he saw the Otherworldly Gate come into view. Hundreds of people had gathered on the tiny island. It was only days ago when a new prophecy had been revealed and was beginning to take effect. Now, all these religious individuals were gathered on an island that was too tiny to fit them all. For what, Lloyd almost forgot… That is, until he heard, "The coming of the third chosen is almost upon us!" and remembered instantly. Lloyd had his own reasons that were probably different than anybody else's as to why he was here – Colette and Zelos.

_Keep holding on, Colette… _He thought. _I'll make sure the third chosen will save you and Zelos! I just wish I knew how the news spread to so many people so quickly! _Lloyd had been hoping that he would've been the only one there to greet the new chosen, but he was dead wrong. Lloyd closed his eyes and sighed pathetically. The sheer number of people on the island was ridiculous! The other individuals on the boat Lloyd had taken couldn't even get onto the island, it was so jam packed. Lloyd, not giving up, edged his way onto the island and into the crowd. He tried getting to the center of the island by pushing his way there.

The middle of the island was empty. This area stood inside a bunch of giant stones and everybody knew that once the third chosen arrived, this is where they would end up appearing from.

A high-pitched noise broke the random chatter. The time had come. The third chosen was arriving. At this point, Lloyd had worked his way up to almost the front of the crowd. The sky above the center of the Otherworldly Gate had turned white. Lloyd looked up at this light. Suddenly, a blinding pillar of light came down from the whited-out sky. Many people gasped or looked away, but Lloyd used this opportunity to get closer. However, when he tried to push by two people at the very front, he fell down inside the stone circle. He stared at the ground for a few seconds and uttered the word "Ow…" under his breath.

When he looked up, Lloyd saw a figure begin to appear a few meters away. Lloyd got to his feet, looking rather embarrassed. Just then, the white light that had formed the third chosen began to fade. The chosen's colors and features began to appear, now. In less than a minute, the third chosen's features were fully formed. Lloyd took a good long look at this new individual. The third chosen was currently lying face down on the ground. It was a young man, no older than himself, Lloyd figured, considering he himself was seventeen. He had long, red hair tied in the back with a yellow hair band, a white coat with some sort of insignia on it that was trying to peek out beyond the long hair, gray pants, and maroon shoes. Lloyd blinked. Then, he decided to walk over to the newcomer.

"Hey…" Lloyd said once he was standing over the red haired individual. The young man looked up, and Lloyd noticed his big teal-green eyes. Lloyd extended a hand to the new chosen, who used it to stand up. "My name is Lloyd Irving. What's yours?" The red head smiled at Lloyd.

"My name is Luke fon Fabre." Luke looked around at murmuring individuals, still standing behind the stones. "So, Lloyd…" He tilted his head slightly for some reason. "Where exactly am I?" Lloyd put a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Welcome to Aselia, Luke!" Lloyd grinned. He already could tell that he was going to like Luke. Suddenly, a raucous rant screeched from the crowd of onlookers. The crowd then flooded in around Luke and Lloyd. Just then, Lloyd was knocked over in the rampant rush, and looked up just in time to see Luke's vibrant red hair vanish out of sight. Lloyd swore that Luke was trying to call for him, as he thought he heard his name being called by a voice that sounded like Luke's. However, by the time that Lloyd stood up, many people had loaded onto a giant ferry that Lloyd seeming failed to notice earlier, which was pulling away by the time Lloyd got over to where the boat was.

_Uh, oh…_ Lloyd thought. _This can't be good… My one hope to save Colette and Zelos is now gone… Where could that ferry be going?_Lloyd sighed, and then he walked over to the middle of the gate and pulled out his Wing Pack and took out his red Rheaird and hopped on, hoping to pursue the ferry. His Rheaird moved faster than the ferry, and he eventually caught up and cruised a little distance above the boat, looking for Luke's conspicuously red hair that Lloyd had to admit to himself looked a lot like Zelos'. Maybe this similarity was what had attracted so many people… Unfortunately, Lloyd could not find anything remotely close to the vibrant color of Luke's hair on the deck of the ship.

However, Luke was indeed on the ship. He was being practically mobbed by crowds of religious people. Twice Luke tried to get Lloyd's attention and failed miserably. "Dammit!" Luke swore after his second attempt failed.

"Is there something wrong, Chosen?" A priest asked him. Luke spun around angrily.

"Yeah!" Luke fumed. "Two things, actually! One, why is everybody calling me 'Chosen'? I have a name, y'know! It's Luke! Two, I can't seem to get the attention of Lloyd, and he's the only one I REALLY want to talk to right now! Everybody just leave me alone!" Luke had half of a notion to get into position to jump off the ferry, but he knew that if he died here, he'd be dooming his home world of Auldrant and, just as importantly, Tear. Instead, Luke let out a reluctant sigh and rested an elbow on the ferry's railing, propping up his head. He looked over the side of the boat and was staring at the water.

"HEY!! Luke!" Luke looked up when he heard his name. It was Lloyd who had called him from the flying machine of his. Lloyd waved to Luke, who smiled and waved in return.

All of a sudden, the ferry stopped rather abruptly, causing many people, Luke included, to fall over (Luke fell backwards onto his head and began to rub it). A giant sea monster had grappled the boat. Lloyd had to double-take when he saw the boat stop. Many people were yelling in fear, but Luke was making his way over to the monster's head to attack. He climbed his way onto the top of the boat's railings.

"Look! The chosen is going to jump!" Somebody said. More people gasped. One of Luke's hands held onto a flagpole to prevent him from slipping, while his other hand unsheathed his sword – the Key of Lorelei. After taking out his sword, Luke jumped off the boat to attack the monster.

"Die!" Luke yelled as his sword impaled the monster as it screeched in pain and began to sink back into the water. However, in his heroics, Luke forgot to take into account that although he could swim, he only could swim not very well and would probably drown before reaching dry land. _Uh, oh…_ Luke thought. _Now what?!?_

"Luke! Take my hand!" Lloyd was still flying on his flying machine, extending a hand to Luke. Luke smiled and took it, and in one fluid motion was seated on the machine behind Lloyd, holding onto Lloyd's shoulders in order to prevent falling off.

"Thanks!" Luke said. Lloyd beamed. As they ascended back into the views of the ferry passengers, they were greeted by loud cheering. Voices were saying things like, 'he really is a chosen!', 'the chosen saved us!', 'that was spectacular!', and 'the chosen is all right!' People cleared a spot on the deck of the ferry for the Rheaird to land. Both Lloyd and Luke were greeted warmly. In about five minutes, the ferry pulled into a harbor and people began to load off. Unfortunately, Lloyd and Luke were separated once again as the crowd swept up Luke and left the boat.

"Hey!" Lloyd said. First, he needed to put back his Rheaird, which he did. Before he knew it, the crowd was filing into Meltokio. Just then, the gates began to close. "Don't close those gates yet!" Lloyd yelled at the closing gates, but they shut completely right in his face. _This can NOT be good…_ Lloyd thought, and then banged on the gates futily.

* * *

**Author's Footnote: **The reason at times the Rheaird is called the "flying machine" is because the paragraph is from Luke's perspective and Luke doesn't know what a Rheaird is... yet. He'll learn later, though. Please keep writing reviews! Thanks for reading! 


	4. Chapter 3A: The Pampered Prisoner

**Author's Preface: **Welcome to the first Lost Chapter! This was part of the story that wasn't originally in the looseleaf version of the story. Therefore, I must warn you that it's rather unedited and ad-libbed. It's a bonus chapter added in to answer questions posed in both Chapters 3 and 4. Chapter 4 isn't out yet, but I put this in now to keep everything in chronological order. There's approximately 2 Lost Chapters and one Bonus Chapter to this story, so keep your eyes peeled!

I want reviews, please!

**Annoying but necessary disclaimer: **I own nothing. I do not own the rights to any of the characters, locations, or NPCs. Copyright everything to Namco and Bandai-Namco.

* * *

**Chapter 3A: The Pampered Prisoner**

The crowd was quickly filing into the city. They were moving so fast that when Luke looked over his shoulder to look for Lloyd, he saw that his brown haired buddy was falling behind. The crowd was also so loud, that when Luke saw that Lloyd was saying (probably screaming) something, he couldn't hear Lloyd, and he never had learned how to adequately read lips. Just then, the crowd was entirely inside the city, and the gates were closing fast. Luke then saw that Lloyd was still outside the city and wasn't going to make it in on time. _Damn…_ Luke thought. _He's going to be left outside! What if I locked myself outside, too?_ He tried to bustle his way through the crowd, but stopped instantly when a very cold hand wrapped around his wrist. A chill ran through Luke's entire body, instantly making his spiky red bangs stand up higher than normal and his pupils constrict.

"Just where do you think you're going, Chosen One?" The icy hand belonged to a rather old-looking individual in religious garments.

"N-nowhere…" Luke said through gritted teeth. "Not anymore…" Luke's head slowly craned back toward the owner of the hand, then down at his wrist that was being grappled by the chilly hand.

"Good." The man with cold hands said, releasing Luke's arm. "Now, let's head over to the temple for prayer to Martel for our new chosen's safe arrival." Just then, Luke heard the doors slam. He looked around for Lloyd, but couldn't find him. _Just great… _He said, rubbing his wrist so it would warm up again. _Lloyd's outside, and I have to deal with the guy with the really cold hands… Maybe I should just follow him to prevent my other hand from being frozen off, too…_

After a while, the crowd was inside a pretty small church, which was quite cozy now due to the sheer number of people who had filed into the room. "Whoa…" Luke said as he looked around the church. "This is nothing like Daath cathedral… I'm rather surprised as to how humble this place is…"

"Humble?" A priestess near Luke said. "This is the finest Church of Martel in Tethe'alla!" Luke blinked at the priestess.

"Martel?" He asked. "Who's that?" He paused to think for a second, when realization hit him. "You mean you don't pray to Lorelei?! Oh, damn…" Luke put a hand on his forehead. "Does that mean I'm going to need to learn another religion?"

"What do you mean by 'another religion'?" The cold-handed priest said. "You mean to tell me that you pray to another deity besides the Goddess Martel?" The priest's face hardened. "Tell me, what sort of deity do your people pray to, Chosen?"

"Well…" Luke started. "People where I'm from pray to the Seventh Fonon Aggregate Lorelei. It used to be that we read from a predicted future called Yulia's Score, but my friends and I personally diverted our world away from the destruction called for in the Score to create a new future." The priestess and a few other individuals gasped.

"So you mean to tell me that you diverted from your religion?" The priest's face turned into a glare and his neck craned out to stare face to face with the nervous-looking teenager. "If you were not a Chosen of Martel sent from another world to save ours from impending doom, you would be arrested for heresy…" Luke's face changed from nervousness to anger.

"I'm not a heretic!" Luke yelled. "I _saved the world_! I made sure that our futures were safe and that new individuals being born to our world could actually HAVE a future! And now, I've been sent so that I can do the same to your world, too! What IF you had decided to put me in jail? Your world would probably end up being destroyed because I would have been unable to do what your goddess put me onto this world to do! How would THAT make you feel, having been responsible for your world's destruction because you put me in prison?" Luke's face had turned to the same color as his hair in his angry rant. Luke took in a deep breath to replace all the air he had used when he was yelling.

"Thus is why you weren't going to prison…" The priest looked unphazed from Luke's little spat. "However, as Pope at this church, I have to punish you somehow for your heresy…" He folded his arms in front of his chest. "I will send with you on your journey to save our world some of our Papal Knights. During the journey, they shall protect you, but as soon as you have prevailed, you will then be taken to jail to serve your sentence for your crime."

"Surely you can't punish him…" Another priest said. "He's just a kid, for Martel's sake!" This comment only added to Luke's rising anger.

"I'm not a kid, dammit!" Luke said angrily. "I'm seventeen! I'm actually almost eighteen!"

"But you're under eighteen." A townsperson said. "You're not an adult yet until you've actually turned eighteen…"

"Better than twenty in my world…" Luke muttered.

"Silence!" The Head Priest yelled. "Let us begin our prayer." Then, he lowered his voice and said, "This continues after prayer, Chosen…" Luke growled, then sighed and closed his eyes to pray. _Oh, goddess of this world… If you can, please listen to this prayer… You've brought me here to do your work, but instead I get called out for a crime I never meant to commit. I've also been forced away from the one person who has showed me true kindness here… Therefore, this is my prayer: Free me from the crimes I haven't commited and let me return to my friend…_

After prayer, a group of Papal Knights escorted Luke up to Tethe'alla Castle. Apparently, they were under the Pope's orders to not let him out of their sight. Luke felt really small in comparison to the tall Papal Knights: Each of them looked at least six feet and three inches tall to him, and he was five foot seven. At this moment, Luke felt as if he wouldn't feel any less dignified if he were bound with shackles right now.

In about a minute, the group had entered the castle. Luke attempted to look at the impressive décor of the room beyond the physiques of the Papal Knights with little avail. Just then, one of the knights said "The king wishes to speak with you. He's in the middle room on the top floor."

"You're not coming with me?" Luke said with mock disappointment. "How come?"

"The king wishes to speak with you alone… Unless you _want_ us to come with you?" The knight speaking bent over and got up close to Luke's face.

"N-no…" Luke said nervously. "T-that won't be necessary. I'll be going now…"

Once inside the king's room, Luke was greeted by "Ahh, you must be the new Chosen, right?" Luke looked around to look for the owner of the voice.

"Yeah…" Luke said, still scanning the room. "That's me, all right… Now, who am I speaking to?" Just then, an individual came out in regal garnments.

"I am the King of Tethe'alla. And you would be?" Luke went down on one knee in respect.

"I am Luke fon Fabre, your majesty." The king motioned for Luke to stand up.

"'Fon' huh? Is it safe for me to assume you are of noble birth?" Luke nodded. "I've heard all about what happened today in the temple.. That pope… He was a replacement for the last pope who was a very corrupt individual. This new pope may not be corrupt, but he sure is coldhearted… I know you're very upset at the pope right now…"

"Tell me about it…" Luke said, diverting his eyes. The king put a hand on his guest's shoulder.

"Luke…" The king said with new seriousness. "What happened in your world cannot affect what happens here… You can't be tried for crimes you didn't commit in this world. I will try to talk sense into the pope, but you've still got to try to avoid him and his knights until then."

"If there was only a way I could get out of the castle without getting the attentions of the Papal Knights…" Luke twirled a strand of hair around his finger. "If only my hair was less conspicuous…" The king laughed.

"There's only one other person I know who has hair of that hue… I'm afraid it's not a very common or easily hid color…" The king paused in thought. He snapped his fingers a minute later. "However, there IS something I can do for a nice teenager like you…" The king walked over to his closet and pulled out a long brown hooded cloak. "Take this…" He said, thrusting the cloak into Luke's arms. Luke pulled the cloak over himself and put up the hood. It hid his hair entirely. "Perfect…" The king smiled. Luke smiled in return, but then he frowned.

"Thank you, your majesty, but I'm afraid this alone isn't going to get me past the Papal Knights…" The king chuckled.

"You don't need to go past them, Luke…" He said. "There's another way out of the palace, but I'm afraid that you'll need to go through the temple… The temple's usually abandoned after prayer, though, so you'll probably be safe…" This made Luke wince, but he was rather unphazed regardless.

"Anything to avoid those gigantic knights… They give me the creeps…" The king smiled.

"That's what I hoped. Very well… What you have to do is…"

"Bingo!" Luke said happily. "Here's the book: _How to Properly Pray to Martel_… Now, I just pull down on it and…" Luke knocked down the book onto its cover, and suddenly there was an odd mechanical noise as the bookcase slid aside, revealing a staircase. Seeing the new staircase made Luke beam with happiness. "See you later, Papal Knights!" He said mockingly, knowing that the knights couldn't hear him anyways, and then he ran onto the staircase. A few steps later, he tripped over the long cloak the king had given him. His hood fell back and his red bangs spilled out into view.

"Ouch…" Luke said as he returned to his feet, rather frazzled. He then chuckled as he tucked his hair back under the cloak. "Got to be more careful…" He kidded with himself. "Another move like that when somebody's around could blow my cover…" Luke looked around for somebody, but he knew that there wouldn't be anybody in this rather secret tunnel. He then began to run again, following the corridor to wherever it led.

After a short period of time, Luke found himself in the Church of Martel. An odd feeling was in this place when it was abandoned – it almost felt like something was here, even though there wasn't… Luke shrugged, then began to run through the aisles of the temple, but then, he felt his foot tug against his cloak again. _Oh no!_ Luke thought as he fell onto his face again. Like last time, his hood fell down to reveal his red hair.

"Oy! Ye awl royght?" A heavily accented voice rang through the temple. Luke's face froze with shock. _Somebody's here?!_ He thought. A stout man with a balding head and a brown goatee ran over to Luke and offered him a hand to help him up. Luke stayed staring at the ground, as if this person would ignore him if he thought he was dead. No such luck… "Dern't be shoy!" The man said, "Tek me 'and en Oil 'elp ye up!" Knowing this man wasn't going to go away, Luke finally decided to be helped onto his feet by the man and took the man's hand. The man's face lit up. "Oy know ye! Ye dat boy from der Othawoildy Gate. De nu chosen, royght?" This made Luke's face turn red. _This guy recognized me! My cover's blown! _Luke thought.

"Erm…" Luke said, still red-faced. "Yeah… That's me…" After saying this, Luke winced. _Why did I just say that?! Now my cover's OFFICIALLY blown…_ He thought. Luke pulled up his hood again and didn't even bother trying to hide his hair this time… Why bother? He was already discovered, anyways. "Now, if you excuse me…" Luke bustled past the man and looked away from him. "I'm kinda in a hurry… Don't tell anybody you've seen me, 'kay?" The man nodded.

"Oll royght…" He said. "One ding, doh…" Luke stopped, rolled his eyes, then looked back at the man. The man's arms were crossed. "Me name's Pierre. Dern't ferget it, oll royght?" Luke nodded. "Now, what's yers, kid?" Luke sighed. For some reason, he was going to regret doing this…

"My name's Luke…" He said. "Now, I've gotta get out of here. Good bye, Pierre." Pierre's face lit up as Luke dashed out of the temple.

"Goo' bouy, Luke. Maybe Oil see ye again!" Just then, an evil smile lit up on Pierre's face. "Soona den yer gonna tink, actually…" Pierre gave a heartily evil belly laugh. He turned around and walked towards a small door in the temple. "HOY!" He yelled. "Yer Popeness! Oive got news fer yer! Ye no dat new red aired boy, royght?" The pope came out of a room that was behind the door.

"I'm perfectly familiar with that teenage heretic… What about him?" He said as he closed the door behind him. His voice was icier than normal. "I thought I told those knights to keep their eyes on him…"

"Well… Les jest say dat boy Luke's given dem da slip… He's also werin' a brown cloak ter cova up 'is red 'air." The pope's gaze turned icier.

"So you're telling me that he's unattended and running through Meltokio in a brown cloak?" Pierre nodded. "Keep your eyes on him. Let me know if he does anything else that I should know about…"

"Of course…" Pierre said. "Oil keep both of me oyes on 'im… I mean, less face eet… 'ee's not gerna ge' ou' o' Meltokio. Ye already barred de fron' gates en told da guards not ter let enybody ou' o' de city eef dey don't have yer signed permission." The pope didn't seem assured.

"I don't know…" The pope said. "Knowing him, I'll guess he'll find a way out of Meltokio somehow… Just keep watching him…" Pierre nodded.

* * *

Please write reviews! I like to know how I'm doing! I do have to apologize if reading Pierre's lines was hard… That's what I get for trying to "type an accent…"


	5. Chapter 4: A Chance ReEncounter

**Author's Preface: **Gah! It's been about a year since I've updated, and the reason for that is due to me losing my manuscript for this story! All that remains of it now is the final page! It's STILL lost! T_T Therefore, pretty much the rest of this story will be _ad libitum_ (Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology pun intended...). I just hope I can remember the gist of what I wrote last year... At least my grammar will be better now that I'm a year older!

* * *

Lloyd sighed as he gazed upon the sealed doors to the capital city of Tethe'alla. There was no way he could possibly break open the time-tested doors to get into the city. _What do I do now?_ Lloyd thought. _I can't just abandon Luke in there..._ Lloyd placed a hand upon his chin as he pondered a method of trying to get into the city, when an idea suddenly hit him.

"I'll use the sewer entrance!" Lloyd exclaimed, rather proud of himself for thinking of the idea himself. "Hopefully, nobody's thought of sealing that way off, too."

Lloyd walked towards the place where his friend Zelos had once led him through to break into the city before. Thankfully, the sewer entrance was as abandoned as it was the last time he had taken this entrance. Lloyd beamed upon seeing his good fortune. He crept quietly towards the entrance, though the effort wasn't really needed, seeing as the sewer was abandoned. Lloyd tapped the Sorcerer's Ring on his right hand, hoping it still worked. A small glimmer shone from the stone, assuring Lloyd that his ring was still operational. His luck was now two for two. Lloyd closed his eyes and focused in his mind upon the small sewer grate upon the other side of the dungeon. He opened his eyes again and under his breath, he muttered "Quick Jump". Everything seemed to go black around Lloyd as the ring worked its magic. The next thing Lloyd knew, he was situated beneath the grate he had imagined in his mind. Three for three. Lloyd quietly opened the grate...

And somebody stepped on the grate, putting over one hundred pounds of weight upon it, which was too much for Lloyd to lift. The grate fell with a thud back into place and Lloyd swore under his breath. A second later, Lloyd heard a thud of something hitting the ground above him. In his curiosity, Lloyd quickly removed the grate and climbed out of the hole. Within seconds, he had spotted the object that had hit the ground with such force above the tunnel.

It was a person who had been wearing a brown cloak. The person on the ground swore loudly. "Dammit, I tripped again! Curse this stupid cloak..." The voice sounded familiar to Lloyd. He walked over to the fallen person and blessed his good luck again as he recognized the bright red hair of his new friend Luke. Lloyd's luck was on a roll, being four for four now.

"Sorry, Luke..." Lloyd said. "That was my fault. Need a hand?" Luke turned over with a look of surprise on his face that changed to one of relief upon seeing that the person who had addressed him was Lloyd.

"Oh, it's only you." Luke sighed, obviously thankful that it was somebody he could trust. He reached up and took Lloyd's hand in his and was assisted back to his feet. "Thank goodness..." Luke shook the dust off of his cloak and pulled the cloak over his bangs again. "Now, how the heck did you get here?"

"Through there..." Lloyd pointed at the sewer grate near his feet. A look of utter disgust crept across Luke's face.

"Eww, no way!" Luke protested. "I'm not going to go trudging through a sewer!" Lloyd made a motion towards Luke to quiet down.

"There's no other way out, considering the main entrance is blocked!" Lloyd said. "Fortunately, I have an alternative to climbing though the catacombs of the sewer system." He tapped the ring on his finger. Luke looked puzzled.

"What is that?" He asked, quieter this time. "I've never seen anything like that before..."

"It's the Sorcerer's Ring!" Lloyd beamed. Luke's face instantly furrowed deeper in confusion.

"The Sorcerer's Ring?" Luke said. "I thought that was with that... Thing..." Luke's mind instantly thought of Mieu back home, who wore the Sorcerer's Ring upon his belly. Just then, Luke remembered that he was in a totally different world.

"What 'Thing'?" Lloyd asked, now being the puzzled one. Luke stared at the ring on Lloyd's hand for a second. The Sorcerer's Ring Mieu wore would fall off of Lloyd's hand, it was so large. Luke began to wonder how many Sorcerer's Rings there really were out there.

"Never mind!" Luke said. "Now, how is that ring supposed to get us through the sewer?" Lloyd smiled again.

"I'm going to use one of the ring's special abilities called 'Quick Jump'." Lloyd explained. "To put things into simple terms, the ring will allow us to warp through a dungeon that I've already traversed. Are you ready?" Lloyd wrapped his arm around Luke's and tapped his ring again.

"Wait, how is it supposed to work?" Luke asked. Lloyd didn't answer. He was busy focusing on making the ring work. Lloyd opened his eyes again.

"Quick Jump!" Lloyd yelled. A bird guffawed in the distance. A little girl nearby looked at the two of them, then continued doing what she was doing before. Then, silence. Lloyd and Luke hadn't moved an inch.

"...Is that what's supposed to happen?" Luke said with obvious boredom highlighting his face.

"Dammit, what's wrong?!?" Lloyd hit the ring with his fist a couple times. "Why won't this thing work now?" Just then, it hit Lloyd. The reason why the ring didn't work was because of Luke. "Luke, does the Sorcerer's Ring in your world have a Quick Jump ability?" Luke frowned.

"No..." Luke said. "I've never heard of Quick Jump until today..." Lloyd hit his face with his hands and swore under his breath.

"Rats, looks like we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way..." Lloyd opened the sewer entrance and motioned towards Luke. "After you..." He said. Luke once again had a disgusted look on his face.

"Didn't I tell you that there was no WAY that I'd go through that place?!?" Luke's face began to twist with anger. "I'm not getting my shoes all mucked up!" Lloyd groaned.

"There's no other way, now come on!" Lloyd was beginning to get annoyed with this stuck-up noble. Luke turned away from Lloyd and harumphed loudly.

"Forget it! I'm not..." Just then, Luke stopped talking as he heard some loud voices approaching. The voices sounded as if they were being spoken through metal helmets. The Papal Knights. "Uh, oh..." Luke began to look worried. "Damn, I thought I gave those idiots the slip!" It was either trudging through the muck or being captured by the Papal Knights. And Luke definitely preferred the former. "Fine, you win!" He told Lloyd. "I'm going in!" Luke hurried down the ladder into the abyss below, with Lloyd somewhat close behind, since he was wondering why Luke had changed his mind so quickly, but following as soon as he had also heard the Papal Knights.

* * *

Yeah, sorry that was so short, but I'm still working on what happens after this (that or looking for my manuscript...) Write reviews! Thank you!


	6. A Note to All Readers

**Attention: A Note to All Readers of The Third Chosen:**

This story has been put on hiatus because I am devoting my time to another fanfiction. I never actually said it outright until now, but the hiatus is ongoing until my other story is complete. If you would like, you can read the other fanfiction. It's called Two Destinies and is a crossover between Tales of Eternia (AKA Tales of Destiny II) and Tales of Destiny 2 (the actual sequel to Tales of Destiny). The first part of this story can be found here: (copy and paste this onto the end of the site link in your address bar after .net) /s/5125300/

I am sorry for the plug to my other story, but I don't want to keep getting badgered about updates for this story from different people's reviews. Please understand. Thank you.

And yes, my manuscript is officially lost. I'll have to write the rest of this off the top of my head. AFTER I complete Two Destinies.

~Augla


End file.
